Friends from Afar
by Evil Asian Genius
Summary: That friends should come to one from afar, is this not after all delightful?"


Friends From Afar  
Chapter 1   
  


"That friends should come to one from afar, is this not after all delightful?"  
Confucius, The Analects

As the ship moved sleekly through subspace, silently ghosting along trails of dimensional progress, Kagato paused, unsure. Letting his hand wander back over the controls, he replayed the message that had been troubling him for days now, his mind wandering over the multitude of implications the words entailed.  
  
"I'm not sure if you're there…but please, I need to speak with you. I need your help…"  
  
He glanced at another screen as it spat out complex strings of numbers, waiting. A cautious man by nature, he was unsure of the message's legitimacy and had run the message through a veritable gauntlet of tests, comparisons of voice samples, data stream analysis... Everything seemed to be authentic. But last he had heard, she was on Jurai...   
  
Concerns of entrapment ran through his mind, worrying him as much as the slight quavering quality in her voice, the hesitation in her words that hinted at trouble. It may have been a long time since any serious attempt was made to find him and the ship, but the Juraians had damnably good memories for such things. He wondered if this time they were using her somehow to try to catch him.  
  
Yet part of him wondered if she would have stayed the same, the same focus and intensity, the same long dark hair, the same…well, it was a long time ago. Better to deal with the existing possibilities, influence the probabilities his direction, and make the potentials work in his favor.  
  
Silently, a multitude of screens sprang to life as the ship dropped out of subspace. Suddenly there it was before him, a blue-green gem drifting in the darkness, enshrouded by its defense systems, the only planet that he could ever truly call home.  
  
Todain. It had been a long time.

It was still raining. She wondered what exactly the planetary weather control people were doing today. Perhaps they were conducting an experiment, but they had promised sun by three, and it was already past four with no hint of clearing. Lazy, she thought, or perhaps someone pulling a prank.  
But one couldn't complain too much. It was beautiful, and the cloud-darkened sky felt oddly comforting, even if she did want to see the sun one last time today. Resting within the deep-set window seat, she watched as the rain came pattering down in straight drizzling lines, the kind of rain that those who made Todain their home loved best. And that smell, the scent of water upon stone…it reminded her. Reminded her of…  
  
No, nothing, really. Nothing at all. For a moment, she thought she had it, but it was gone again, lost, like everything else was.  
  
That wouldn't be for much longer though. Someone was coming; someone who could fix everything that was broken. She wasn't completely sure exactly who he was, or why it was that he was important, but she knew that he could solve the mysteries in her head. He was the best, of course. Though at what, she couldn't remember. But he had promised to come, and she knew he would. Though why, if you had asked her, she couldn't say.

It was about a year ago, when Akiko woke up. Something was different. Something was missing. She thought perhaps there had been an accident; after all, she had woken up in a medical laboratory where heavy lidded doctors and silent green-garbed nurses flitted around a sterile chamber grown straight out of the living trees around them. But really, she wasn't sure. Nothing felt quite right. For weeks she had walked around not exactly sure of what had happened, though there was always this haunted feeling in the back of her mind that somehow she had misplaced something intrinsic, something of value.  
  
Thinking that perhaps she knew them, that perhaps they could tell her what was wrong, she would go up to people, but they always managed to look at her oddly before scurrying away when she came near. Those who did come by spoke to her with a certain gentleness in their voices, taking care to phrase their intentions delicately as if she had somehow been injured, though she felt nothing particularly different. Sometimes strangers would come and sit with her for long, awkward minutes. While she earnestly waited for them to speak, they would give her such pained looks before finally apologizing for troubling her and leaving.  
  
Finally, they stopped coming.  
  
It would probably have been better if Akiko had stayed there and never learnt what was wrong. Life would have been confusing, but if not acceptable, at least tolerable. She would have been the dark-haired woman with a puzzled look on her face, oddly out of place amidst the exotic blooms of Juraian nobility, lost within a sea of fragrant flowers and forests of soaring trees, trees whose roots were literally grounded in the sky.  
  
In time, she would have made a new place for herself, a new life, and the confusion would have left her eyes. Things would progress as they always did on this, the Eden of planets, the gem at the center of the galaxy. The slow sweep of the stars above, the rustle of the profusion of plant life as gentle breezes swept across planet Jurai's surface, the vital core of the whole of humanity.  
  
But honestly, she had always been too damned curious and stubborn for her own good. 

Violet and verdant, the colors of the former Royal Space Academy. After all these years, it was surprisingly easy to blend in; being fond of tradition, the uniform designs had not changed significantly in the last few thousand years. With much of his pale hair concealed beneath a student's cap, his wrists discreetly covered by a heavy green coat's long sleeves, and the white tips of his gloves peeking out from underneath, he did not look considerably different from the mass of students that inhabited this world but for his unusual height, which could not be helped. Wordlessly, Kagato made his way unnoticed through the clumps and knots of students passing through the hallways intersecting and connecting the major buildings of the western division.   
  
Last he had been here, this building had not existed. In fact, he was certain that this entire sector had not been built. Time's passage had brought many changes to the Royal Space Academy, the most significant of which was its transition into a public galactic institution. No longer restricted to those of noble descent and high societal status, but for the few exceptionally talented commoners whom even the old regime could not ignore, the hallways and classrooms now were filled with the common folk of the empire.  
  
As he entered the central interior of the building he had been searching for, he stopped momentarily beneath the hanging root system of a ganion tree, suspended in mid-air, checking his coordinates against those which he was sent. Looking up through the sparse branches and leaves, he could see the faintest patches of pale gray light coming in from the skylight, hundreds of feet above the ground. That much had not changed; the architectural style of the Space Academy had always held strong Juraian sensibilities, with their love for open spaces and natural light. Around him, footsteps and voices echoed through the vast open space, the sound spiraling through the stone and crystal chamber.  
  
Suddenly, a hand clamped down on his shoulder, jarring him from his thoughts. Half snarling, Kagato spun around, grasped the offending limb in his right hand, and forced it down painfully. For a second, they stared at each other, and Kagato's grip loosened, realizing that it was just another student, a very young, very startled looking youth in a similar basic uniform, coat, and cap, topping an unruly mop of dark brown hair.  
  
"What the hell Aki…oh wait, I'm sorry! I thought you were Akihoshi. He was supposed to meet me here and…and…" The young man's voice drifted off as his eyes caught a bare glimpse of emptiness between sleeve and glove as Kagato released him, his hand lowering to his side.  
  
"You are mistaken," Kagato said, his voice icy with indignation. Annoyed with himself for not only letting his guard down, but also reacting as though he was not on one of the most civilized planets of the galaxy, Kagato turned and stalked away, heading toward the transporter lifts.  
  
Mikato rubbed his wrist absently as the stranger walked away. He could have sworn that that was Akihoshi, but now that he thought about it, that strange student was taller, and had such oddly cold eyes. Which was pretty amazing since he always thought Aki was excessively tall. And the sleeve! He could have sworn it was empty, as if there was nothing connecting arm and hand. Idly, he wondered what that could have been, and shrugged it off. He really needed more sleep; all that last minute cramming must have caused some visual processing segment of his brain to malfunction. Hearing a voice call his name, he turned to see Akihoshi walking toward him.  
  
"Hoy, Akihoshi! You'll never believe what I just saw…"

"I had a dream about you."   
  
Kagato stopped just inside the doorway, frozen. The door silently slid shut behind him. Akiko stood up from behind her desk, papers trailing unnoticed out of her hand, her eyes sharply taking in every detail, scrutinizing his every movement.  
  
"It was a long time ago and it was very cold, and I didn't have my coat. You gave me yours. But in my dream you looked different." Puzzled, she walked over to him, her hand hesitant as she reached out toward him. Suddenly, she took a hold of his hand, and examined his glove-covered appendage as the dark cloth of his coat sleeve slipped away to reveal the nothingness. Kagato nearly flinched at the shock of her hands enfolding his, the sudden and unexpected contact surprising him. They were warm, her hands…  
  
"I thought your hands were different. They gleamed? No…metal, that's it. Perhaps I really was dreaming. No, that can't be right, because you're here, and you're real." She looked at him thoughtfully, her dark eyes examining his, as he gently extracted his hand from hers.   
  
"Akiko. What is the purpose of this? Why do you need me here? Why are you here?"   
  
"Oh. You know who I am. Well, that's a start. Who are you?"

"Do not joke with me, Akiko. I corresponded with you last not five years ago. What is the meaning of this?" Kagato caught her wrist as she moved to turn away.  
  
Akiko said nothing. With an outstretched finger, she lightly touched a visible patch of the dark blue band of stone on her entrapped left wrist. Immediately, a faintly shimmering screen appeared before Kagato.  
  
"'Akiko i Takatri, citizen of the Federated Planets of Jusri, allied state of the Juraian Empire. Date of birth: Fourth month 4, GSY 5883. Age: 29. Gender: Female. Status: Student. Current Planet of Residence: Todain.'" Kagato's eyes scanned the rest of the identification marker, noting the official Juraian seals and the accompanying documentation that declared her a student of the Academy.  
  
"I'm certain that this isn't accurate. I know I'm older than that. I've never been to Jusri. I'm not even sure where that is."  
  
"Of course it isn't accurate," Kagato snarled sarcastically. "That isn't even your correct name. You were born on Durance. We were born in the same standard year. You're almost five thousand years old. Don't you remember any of this? Or have you managed to damage your brain?" He let her go, disgusted.  
  
"I don't know." Akiko's eyes betrayed a glimmer of fear as she watched him helplessly. "I don't know what's going on."  
  
"What do you mean, you don't know? This is ridiculous." Kagato paced the room. "How could you not remember?"  
  
"I don't know. I don't understand how these things work. All I know is that something happened on Jurai. One morning I woke up in a hospital, and there were a lot of things I couldn't remember. When I tried to find out, they sent me here."  
  
"What do the records say? Surely they exist; you worked for the court of Jurai since you finished the Academy and was appointed as a researcher for the Grand Historian."  
  
"There are no records."  
  
"How are there no records? This is nonsense. The Juraians are in love with their record-keeping abilities. They have archives dating back to nearly the dawn of the Old Empire, predating Juraian hegemony, and they have studious records on every petty official who's ever darkened the doorstep of the imperial court."  
  
"I tried looking, but I couldn't find anything, and I don't have access anymore to where I could look. I don't know why there aren't any records."  
  
"Will you stop saying that? How could you not know?" Kagato stopped, and turned to her. She had taken up a seat in the deep ledge of the window, and had pressed her hands against the cold clear pane. Rain drizzled along the translucent material, a gossamer sheen of water. His reflection glimmered faintly in the glass.  
  
"I don't understand anything anymore. If I did, I wouldn't have asked you to come so far." Her voice came quiet and small.  
  
"I see." Outside, the rain fell uncaring.

  
"Are you insane? You're going to get us kicked out of the Academy!" Mikato whispered furiously as Akihoshi blandly plodded along on his spectral screen, casually hacking into the local security network.  
  
"They'll never notice. The sensor arrays are too imperceptible for a normal person to notice, because they're only really there for emergencies."  
  
"You're crazy! You need to stop this right now before we get into trouble! If she finds out, she's going to kill us! That block's full of senior students! If we get caught... Oh gods, my parents are going to disown me if I get kicked out…" Mikato paced nervously, keeping a constant lookout as they perched precariously in a stairwell not too far from the room where they had seen the stranger enter only a few minutes prior.  
  
"Don't worry, about it, Mika. I talked to the building guys about this once; sometimes they turn this gear on to sneak a peek if there's a pretty girl in the room, and they've never been caught. I just want to get a good look at this guy. Sneaking around and trying to follow him wasn't exactly the best way of finding out what he looks like."  
  
"Does it really matter that much? I don't know why I put up with your crazy ideas…" He trailed off into a mutter. Akihoshi caught a few choice curses, and grinned to himself.  
  
"Hey, you're the one who pointed him out. Besides, he may look like me, but you know who everyone says I look like?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Don't you ever watch the newsfeeds? The Ruins Buster, you bottle-washing moron." Akihoshi booted up a few choice programs, and sat back to watch as his keys wormed their way into the local security system.  
  
"Oh shit. You think that's him?" Mikato gulped.  
  
"70/30 on the reward money," Akihoshi stated.  
  
"Make that 60/40. I saw him first."  
  
"Sure thing. Oh good. I'm in." Akihoshi beamed triumphantly as Mikato leaned down to look.

"Take you with me?" Kagato could not believe it. In the past when he had asked, she had refused; now she was the one asking. "Why do you want me to take you with me?"  
  
"I…I hate sounding so…I hate…I hate it here. I can't stand it anymore. I don't know where I am. No one looks familiar. I open books with my name in them, books that I think I wrote but don't remember. Sometimes people come and tell me that they know my secret, and know who I am. And what's frightening is that they know more about me than I do. I don't know what to do anymore. Except leave. And they won't let me go."  
  
Kagato leaned back against the glass beside her in the window seat. Her midnight hair partially veiled her face from him, and up close, he could see the weary dark smudges beneath her eyes, and the pinched anxiety underlying her normally calm features. Looking away, his eyes wandered up to the ceiling just as a tiny flicker of movement moved across the ceiling. The probes he had anchored into the local security net reaffirmed his suspicion, and Kagato raised his hand. Green flashes of energy slowly accumulated before his white-gloved fingertips.  
  
"Shield your eyes." It was a command, not a suggestion.  
  
"What?" Akiko chanced a glance at Kagato's grim face, and then quickly covered her eyes. Suddenly, there was a bright flash and an explosion that made her yelp.  
  
"What was that?" Akiko shook, her heart pounding from the sudden rush of adrenaline.  
  
Kagato reached out to place his hands on her shoulders, turning her toward him.  
  
"Listen to me, Akiko. I have enemies everywhere. It's not safe for me to stay with you, and it's not safe for you to come with me." His voice held a tone of gentle finality.  
  
"But you're…you're the only one that I…"  
  
"No. Listen to me. I just had to disable a security sensor. They know I'm here. I must leave. You must stay here where it will be safe for you. Sometime later when things have calmed down, I will try to find you again, but I cannot make any promises right now for…"  
  
Kagato looked over at the door just in time to see it blasted open. Akiko flinched beneath his hands and shrieked, startled by the concussion as the heavy door blew into the room, glass and wood splintering and shattering under its percussive weight.  
  
"Too late." Kagato's voice was almost a whisper. Immediately, armed Juraians filled the room, their blasters at the fore. As he pulled himself away from Akiko's shivering grip, Kagato looked about the room, surprised to see so many imperial guardians, yet his impassive face showed nothing but deadly focus.  
  
"Well, it seems that Todain has brought this errant son a welcoming party." Kagato pulled off his student's cap, a long snaky tail of silvery-pale hair sliding out from underneath. "What say you, gentleman? Do you want to leave the reception alive?" Kagato smiled confidently as he eased away from Akiko slowly, carefully moving away from her so that he would draw their fire in case it came down to that. Which at this point, it certainly seemed the case, as his observant eyes caught the trembling of fingers ready to fire.  
  
"Don't move, Ruins Buster," a stern voice commanded. Kagato could hear the stomp and clatter of backup units as they echoed through the winding corridor just beyond the door.  
  
His feral eyes glittered with amusement. "So. Shall we start?" He reached out his right hand for the sword that suddenly appeared beneath his fingertips. A few guardians looked visibly shaken, clutching their blasters tight. Kagato smirked, and slowly raised his sword, bemused at the whole affair now turned dramatic. As his eyes swept over the crowd of guardians, it seemed as though things moved slower for an instant, as their blasters minutely turned, not towards him, but towards her.  
  
As the world erupted in a fiery storm of energy weapon blasts, he was able to catch Akiko just as her shields crumpled from the barrage of fire. Akiko cried out against him in fear, a half-muffled sound against his shoulder, as a controlled blast from his sword blew out the window, and he leapt out with her clutched tight. With a fluid gesture, the sword dissipated from his hand and he rained a hail of energy bolts behind him, covering their escape as they fell.  
  
Akiko's breath came in wild sobs. Gravity caught them in its tight clutches as they fell from the tall-storied building, wind-whipped rain, shards of glass, and flying beams of destructive light sparkling all about them. She turned her head to look up at Kagato. Tiny droplets of water dotted his pince-nez before flying off from the force of the wind and a fleeting half-smile crossed his lips before he closed his eyes momentarily. In an instant, they were enveloped in a geometric matrix of green and black, and without warning, they blinked out of existence.

"Akihoshi. Can you hear me?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I think we're in trouble."  
  
"Probably."  
  
"So much for the reward money."  
  
"Oh well."  
  
"How much longer do you think they'll question us?"  
  
"Um…a while, I think. Until they figure out what happened."  
  
"Aki?"  
  
"Yes, Mika?"  
  
"When we get out of this, I'm going to kick your ass."  
  
"Right."

  
Akiko sat curled up in the copilot's seat, shivering in the cold sterile air of the shuttle, Kagato's heavy green coat draped snugly around her. But it seemed that nothing could keep her warm, not after what happened. Before and around her, the endless night sky of space seemed to swallow the ship into a vast chasm of inky blackness and glistening stars. The hum of the ship's engines and the blinking lights from the screens seemed the only ties left to her of normalcy, of reality.  
  
"We'll be at my ship soon." Startled, she turned her eyes to him. His expression remained unchanged as he guided the shuttle through the sea of stars around them, his attention completely focused on maneuvering of the controls.  
  
"Don't be afraid. You're safe now. With me," Kagato said, his voice flat and emotionless. His eyes wandered over a few new screens that blossomed into being before him.  
  
Akiko closed her eyes and tried to will the darkness away.

  
  


Disclaimers: Tenchi Muyo belongs to AIC/Pioneer. All characters belong to their respective creators.  
Author's notes: I wrote [Obligation][1] in preparation for writing this fic. That, and other spamfics involving this continuity may be found at http://www.muyo.org/bishoujo/fanfic/ Regarding further chapters, I haven't really written much more, unfortunately. Chapter 2 may be a long while. Sorry! _  
C&C can be sent to cori_ohki@hotmail.com Thank you for reading. ^_^

   [1]: http://www.muyo.org/bishoujo/fanfic/obligation.html



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